Gilligan and Mrs. Howell
by Carol
Summary: Darien and Claire bond while stuck in the Keep


Darien steered his car slowly through the heavy rain

Title: Gilligan and Mrs. Howell

Author: Carol M.

Spoilers: IOBE

Rated: G-PG---Who Knows?

Notes: This is the second story in the Devil's Silver series. This is a little fluffy departure from the last fan fic. Don't worry, there will be plenty of action/adventure/intrigue/angst in the next story. You don't need to have read Devil's Silver to understand this one.

Disclaimers: I don't own them, I just play with em.

Darien steered his car slowly through the heavy rain. He was heading to the Keep to get his shot and to trade off his emergency supply of counteragent. The emergency counteragent had worked really well. He had only had to give himself an emergency shot once and he had not gone quicksilver mad in a month. Not since the day he had raped Claire.

He thought about that day often. He would carry the guilt from it with him forever. What he couldn't believe was that Claire still worked at the Agency. He figured she would've pressed charges and quit. But she didn't. She had actually helped him by getting him his emergency counteragent. Maybe she wasn't like all the other women in his life. She hadn't left him yet.

A loud clash of thunder knocked Darien out of his thoughts. He parallel parked on the sidewalk next to the Agency and quickly ran through the rain to the front door.

Claire sat at her desk chair, eating leftover Chinese. She was expecting Darien any second for his counteragent. Things had been strange with Darien. He would come in for his counteragent and they would talk like normal, but it wasn't the same. It was strained, and it was fake. She knew it and he knew it too. Claire just wanted to put the whole thing behind her. 

Claire looked up from her chair when she heard the Keep door open. Darien walked in, soaking wet. He shook his hair slightly and tried to fix it with his fingers.

"Hello Darien," said Claire cheerfully as she set down her Chinese and got out of her chair.

"Hey," he said as he continued to style his hair. He walked to the counteragent chair and sat down in it. Claire took two shots of counteragent out of desk drawer and walked over to Darien's chair.

Darien gazed up at her. "How was your weekend, Keepie," he asked.

Claire snorted. "Well actually, I went to the symphony with Eberts," she said.

"Whoa, whoa, Eberts?" replied Darien in a shocked tone. "Albert Eberts, as in 'shut up Eberts'?"

"The one and only," said Claire with a smile. She tied a rubber strap around Darien's arm so she could locate a vein to inject him in. Thunder sounded loudly from the storm outside.

Darien smiled widely. "Go Eberts," he said softly. "So are you two in love, are you an item?"

Claire smiled as she wiped alcohol on Darien's arm. "No, we are not. He is just a friend."

"Sure he is. You've been in love in love with him since day one. Hobbes will be crushed," Darien said in a teasing tone.

Claire eased the needle into Darien's vein. "Darien, it's not good to tease someone who is giving you a shot," she said with a sly smile.

Darien nodded. "Good point." He winced slightly as the counteragent coursed into his bloodstream.

Claire removed the needle from his vein and then untied the rubber strap from around his arm. "You okay?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"Oh, yeah. Just burned a little is all," he said. 

Claire nodded. She picked up the other shot of counteragent and handed it to Darien. "You got something for me?" she asked.

"I sure do," he replied. Darien reached into his coat pocket and handed her a shot of counteragent.

"All right then, you're all set," Claire said as she put the shot that Darien had just given her in the medical waste container.

Darien stood up from the chair and stretched. "Thanks Claire," he said. "Good luck with Eberts," he said with a smile.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Your welcome, Darien."

Darien slowly walked to the door. A huge thunderclap sounded and a few seconds later the electricity went out. "Aw, crap," said Darien.

"Don't worry Darien, the backup generator should go on in a second," said Claire from the darkness.

They both heard a buzzing sound and then the lights came on again. Then they heard a loud bang and all the lights went out again. 

"Well it looks like Eberts forgot to pay the electricity bill," said Darien. 

Claire felt around her desk and opened up the top drawer. She felt around and pulled out a small flashlight. She turned it on and pointed it at Darien.

" Why do I feel like I'm on Star Search?" he said. Claire smiled.

Darien walked to the door and pounded on it. "You see, this is the problem with computers controlling everything. The electricity goes out and we can't even open the door."

Claire picked up her cordless phone and tried to dial out. "Looks like the phone lines are down too," she said as she put the phone down.

Claire looked at her computer screen. She suddenly remembered what she had been doing before eating the Chinese. "Bloody hell," she exclaimed loudly.

Darien walked towards her. "What, what, is everything okay?" he asked.

Claire sighed. "Well I was working on this huge report for the Official about counteragent and I forgot to save it," she said.

"Ouch," said Darien as he sat down in his counteragent chair.

"No, it's my own fault. I should have remembered to save it," Claire replied.

"Hey you probably just got preoccupied thinking about Eberts," said Darien with a smile.

Claire rolled her eyes again. She reached into the bottom desk drawer and pulled out a candle and some matches. She put the candle on the desk and lit it with a match.

"That's my Keepie, always prepared," said Darien.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a few moments. Darien looked at Claire and she looked back at him. Darien broke the silence by saying "Well at least we don't have to worry about me going quicksilver mad since we are surrounded by counteragent."

Claire nodded hesitantly. Darien noticed. "You know Claire, we never really talked about what happened," he said.

Claire shook her head. "It's okay Darien, I've recovered," she said.

"Have you?" Darien asked. "I mean, I don't know how you can just recover from something like that. I haven't recovered."

"Darien, I've gone over it my mind a hundred times. I just can't see how blaming you or pushing you away is going to help anything. It was awful, I will tell you that, but what can we do. You didn't do it, it was your evil twin. No sense in beating you up over it. I know you are sorry for what happened and that's all I expect from you."

Claire paused for a moment and then went on. "You know, maybe in some weird, twisted way, it was a good thing," she said.

Darien looked at her in surprise. Claire continued. "I mean, now you have the counteragent with you. You haven't gone quicksilver mad since it happened, which is good for you and well… for me."

"Yeah," said Darien softly. "It's just that, I don't know, when I come in here, it's like this thing hanging over both of us. I don't know how to act. Should I pretend it never happened, should I be sensitive, I just don't really know sometimes. I think today was the first day that it wasn't really weird when I came in here," he said.

Claire got up and walked to Darien. "What do you say we put it all behind us? We acknowledge that it happened, but not let it ruin our friendship. It was a horrible thing, but it was a thing out of both our controls. What do you say, can things go back to how they were?" she said eagerly.

Darien nodded and smiled. "Sounds good to me," he said.

"Good," said Claire. "Friends?" she asked.

"Friends," replied Darien.

Claire slowly leaned toward Darien and gave him a small hug. Darien, surprised at first, hugged her back. She pulled out of the hug and smiled. She felt a hundred times better. So did Darien.

"Hey Claire," said Darien in a questioning tone.

"Yeah?" she said.

"You got any food in here? I was going to meet Hobbes for lunch, but I don't think that's gonna be happening," Darien said.

"Oh I'm sure I can dig something up," she said as she walked to the refrigerator. "Let's see… I've got leftover fried rice, leftover sweet and sour chicken…" Claire pulled out a half-eaten hamburger with mold on it. She threw it in the trash. "Hmm what else… chicken teriyaki…"

"You know Claire, I'm sensing a theme here," said Darien.

"I like Chinese okay. I order from that place up the street practically everyday," she replied.

"Yeah I get that. Umm, can I have the sweet and sour chicken?" he said.

"Sure," she said as she pulled the food out of the refrigerator. She walked over and handed the food along with a fork to Darien. "Thanks, Keep," he replied.

He started to wolf down the chicken. Claire picked up the white rice she had been eating earlier and started eating it again. 

"That was really good," said Darien as he finished the rest of the chicken. He got out of the chair and threw the carton in the garbage. He looked over at the fish tank. "You know Claire, if we get trapped in here for days and days and run out of leftovers, we can always eat the fish," he said jokingly.

Claire scoffed. "You've got to be kidding. I would eat you before I would eat those fish," she replied sarcastically.

Darien walked back to his chair and sat down. "That hurts Claire, it really does," he said, looking at her with his puppy dog eyes.

Claire set her empty Chinese container down on the desk. "You know, it really isn't fair Darien," she said.

Darien looked at her curiously. "What's not fair?" he asked.

Claire smiled. "Those eyes of yours. I bet they have been the death of many females," she said.

Darien blushed slightly. "I do all right," he said. "They all seem to find someone better in the end though," he said softly.

Claire smiled sympathetically. Darien noticed and smiled. "That's okay, I've always got Hobbes," he said. "And you have Eberts."

"Oh bloody, how many times do I have to tell you. He is just a friend, nothing more. He had an extra ticket to the symphony because his date got sick, and he knew that I liked the music, so he asked me," she said.

"Symphony, huh," said Darien. "I didn't know you liked that kind of music," he said.

Claire snorted. "There's a lot of stuff that you don't know about me, Darien," she said.

"Yeah, like you're last name, for starters," he said in a slightly harsh tone.

Claire exhaled loudly. "Darien, I have told you before, no one knows my last name. Not even Eberts,' she said.

"Come on Claire, you know everything about me. You know by blood type, my allergies, my immunities, my arachnophobia. Let me know your last name," he said in a pleading tone.

"No," she said firmly. Darien started to protest, but Claire interrupted him. "I will tell you my middle name though," she said. Darien smiled. "All right," he said.

"It's Marie. Claire Marie," she said.

"That's pretty," he said. "You don't want to know my middle name," he said with a grimace.

"Bartholomew," she said with a smile.

Darien looked at her in horror. "How did you know that?" he said.

"How else, it's in the computer," she said.

"Oh god, I'm going to have to break in here one of these days and steal that thing," he said.

"That's you: Darien Fawkes, master thief," she said.

"Hey, if I was a master, I wouldn't have gotten caught," he replied.

"You just had too good of a heart, that's all," Claire said. "Let me guess, you were trying to rebel against the greatness that was your brother, but you found when it really came down to it you really weren't a criminal," she said.

Darien shook his head. "Oh no, I was a criminal. I just couldn't watch some old guy die," he said. "What about you? Why this, why not some prestigious position at the DOD or the CDC?"

Claire looked around her darkened lab. She pointed around the room. "This, all of this, that's why. I get to work with a really interesting government experiment and I also get to make my own little experiments. It's like I get paid for messing around in the basement when I was little," she replied with a smile.

"I see," said Darien nodding. He looked around the Keep. "Don't you have anything to do down here like a game or a radio or something, it's getting kind of boring," he asked.

"Boring you, am I?" she replied teasingly.

"No, no it's just that I get restless after a while. I like to do things, you know," Darien replied.

"Hmm," said Claire as she thought about what goodies she could let Darien play with. She walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a portable radio. She looked at Darien. "Will this do?

Darien smiled. "Sure."

Claire turned the radio to a top 40 hits station. A fast song played. Darien got out of his chair and playfully started dancing. "Come on, Keepie, show me your moves," he said as he continued to dance.

Claire blushed and laughed nervously. "If you tell Hobbes about this I will kill you," she said in a sharp tone.

Darien put a finger up to his mouth. "My lips are sealed," he said.

Claire started to dance around the Keep, twirling and snapping her fingers. Darien did the same.

A new song came on the radio and Claire stood up on one of the lab tables and started to go-go dance. Darien stopped dancing and stared at her with his mouth wide open.

"What?" yelled Claire as she continued to dance.

Darien shook his head slightly. "Nothing, I just didn't know you could move like that," he said.

"Darien, just because I'm a scientist and spend most of my day in a lab doesn't mean I can't be wild and crazy. I can shake my bum with the rest of them," Claire said with a smile. "Come up here!" she said.

Darien shook his head. "Oh no, you are going to use this as some kind of blackmail with Hobbes," he said.

"Oh shut up and get up here," Claire said.

"Okay," Darien said hesitantly as he climbed up on the table. He got up on the table and started dancing slowly. After a few seconds, he got more comfortable and started to dance more freely.

A slow song came on the radio. Both of them stopped dancing and looked at one another awkwardly. Darien looked at Claire and extended his hand. "Wanna dance?" he asked softly.

Claire nodded slowly. "Sure."

Darien took her hand and pulled her close to him. They swayed back and forth slowly for a few moments. "Okay Claire, get ready," said Darien. Claire looked at Darien with a confused look. "What for?" she said.

"This," said Darien as he dipped Claire slowly. After he pulled her back up, he spun her around.

Claire laughed softly. Darien did the same. They looked into one another's eyes, both seeing something new in the other that they hadn't seen before. They started to lean into one another, lips almost touching.

The lights suddenly came on. The door to the Keep opened and Bobby Hobbes was standing at the entrance. 

Darien and Claire quickly pulled apart. "Saved by the bald super agent," said Darien to himself.

Bobby walked into the Keep. "I figured this was where you disappeared to. We just got the backup generator up." He suddenly looked up at them and realized they were standing on the table.

"What the hell are you two doing?" he asked.

"Dancing," she Claire as she hopped off the table.

"We got bored Hobbesy, there's not much to do down here when the electricity goes out," said Darien as he also stepped down from the table.

Darien looked back at Claire. "Well I guess I better get going. Hobbes and I are supposed to do some surveillance tonight," he said.

"Yeah, I have to keep working on the counteragent report," Claire said.

"We should do it again some time Claire, maybe next time we can show Hobbes our moves," said Darien with a smile.

"Don't count on it," said Claire as she smiled at Bobby.

"Come on partner, we got to get ready for tonight," said Bobby.

"Bye Claire," said Bobby as he slowly headed for the door.

"Bye dancing queen," said Darien with a smile.

"Bye Bartholomew," said Claire. Darien stepped back into the Keep and gave Claire a dirty look. Claire smiled back at him. Darien shook his head and starting walking out the door.

Claire could hear Bobby and Darien as they walked out the door. "You trying to make time with Claire?" she heard Bobby ask Darien. "Come on pally, I wouldn't move in your women, but you might want to watch out for Eberts, my friend," said Darien. They both exited the Keep.

Claire turned the music off and put the radio back in the cabinet. Today had been a good day. Maybe things were finally back to normal. Maybe they could put everything that had happened behind them.

The End


End file.
